Powered cut-off attachment for paving machine



United States Patent [72] inventors Charles K. Meadows P.0. Box A, Gassaway, 26624; Allen N. Smyth, 2,0. Box 13, Sutton, West Virginia 26601 [21] Appl. No. 746,211 [22] Filed July 19, 1968 [45] Patented Dec. 1, 1970 [54] POWERED CUT-OFF ATTACHMENT FOR PAYING MACHINE 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[5 2] US. Cl 94/46, 94/45 [51] Int. Cl E01c 19/48 [50] Field of Search 94/44, 46, 45

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,225,481 12/1940 Lundbye 94/46 Primary Examiner-Jacob L. Nackenoff Attorney-Charles F. Dufficld ABSTRACT: A cutoff shoe attachment for a paving machine which employs a side skirt attached to the paving machine and a cutoff shoe movable in guide channels in the side skirt to move in front of the screed to control the width of the mat. The imovement of the cutoff shoe is effected by means of a hydraulic cylinder disposed between the side skirt and the cutoff jshoe. The cutoff shoe also includes a plurality of ratchet teeth cooperating with a yoke on the cylinder permitting use of a cylinder of stroke less than the length of the cutoff shoe. A sidearm extension is provided to give additional adjustment of the cutoff shoe.

Patented Dec. 1, 1970 '3I Fig. 3

I INVENTORS.

CHARLES K. MEADOWS BY AL LEN N. SMYTH ATTOR N EY.

OWERED I-Q TTAC M T O PAVING MACHINE SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF INVENTION This invention relates to improvements in pavingequipment,'and particularly, to improvements in the manner in which the cutoff shoe is moved across the face of the screed to adjust the width of the mat.

When paving roadways and the like with bituminous or asphaltic materials it is constantly necessary to readjust the width of the mat of paving material due to variation in the width of the surface being paved.

One form of paving equipment in present use today stores a substantial quantity of the paving material in a hopper or general depository in the forward part of the machine. The paving material is conveyed from the hopper to the rear of the machine where it isfed, by means of screw conveyors, to a portion of the machine known as the screed. The screed is generally of the vibrating type and is disposed above the surface to be paved a predetermined distance. As the material passes to the screed, the material is placed on the surface and finished to a predetermined thickness.

The screed extends generally across the rear and entire width of the paving machine. In order to control the width of the mat which the paving machine is spreading, a device known as a cutoff shoe is employed. The cutoff shoe is disposed at one side of the machine and projects along the iongitudinal axis of the screed and immediately in advance thereof. The effect of the cutoff shoe is to block off a portion of the screed and thus prevent the material being conveyed from the hopper from passing under that portion of the screed. In this manner, depending upon the extent to which the cutoff shoe is projected inwardly of the screed, the width of the mat will be controlled.

The cutoff shoes on the machines presently in use are positioned by means of a pin extending through a portion of the shoe and the side skirt ofthe paving machine. In order to readjust the position of the cutoff shoe in respect to the screed, the paving machine must be stopped, the cutoff shoe unpinned from the side skirt, and the paving material cleaned from off and around the cutoff shoe before the cutoff shoe may be readjusted. This is, understandably, a time consuming and thus costly operation. Additionally, the adjustment available may only be had in steps depending upon the spacing between the pin holes in the cutoff shoe.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide an improvement in roadpaving equipment of the foregoing type in which the position of the cutoff shoe and consequently the width of the mat may be adjusted through power actuated means without stopping the roadpaving machine.

In one form of the present invention, the standard side skirt is replaced with a specialized side skirt which includes guide means therein which cooperate with corresponding guide channels in the speciallydesigned cutoff shoe. A hydraulic cylinder is rotatably secured to the side skirt at one end and the opposite end thereof is free. A plurality of ratchet teeth disposed on the cutoff shoe are designed to engage a yoke disposed on the free end of the hydraulic cylinder in such a manner that the cutoff shoe may be moved through its full length by repositioning the yoke of the cylinder in different ratchet teeth as desired.

Additionally, the cutoff shoe includes a rotatable or swingable sidearm which includes a plurality of ratchet teeth thereon which further extends the amount of possible movement of the cutoff shoe. The sidearm may be rotated or swung out of the way whenever the added movement or adjustment is unnecessary.

These and other meritorious features and objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a roadpaving machine with the cutoff attachment of the present invention in place;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cutoff attachment of the present invention while partially dissembled; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the cutoff attachment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION Shown in FIG. 1 is the complete roadpaving machine on which the cutoff attachment of the present invention is used. In a paving machine of this nature, the paving material is passed from a general hopper or depository 10, by means of screw conveyors or the like, to the rear portion of the machine. The material so delivered is then passed under a screed 11 in which the thickness and the width of the resultant mat 12 is determined.

The cutoff attachment 13, of the present invention, generally includes a special cutoff shoe 14 and side skirt 15. The cutoff shoe 14 cooperates with the side skirt 15 (as discussed in more detail hereinafter) so as to move inwardly or outwardly along the leading edge of the screed 11, to control the width ofthe mat 12.

The cutoff attachment 13, including the cutoff shoe l4 and the side skirt 15, is attached to the roadpaving machine by means of a first channel 16 cooperating with a side post 17 of the roadpaving machine and a bracket 18 which secures the opposite end ofthe cutoff attachment. The cutoff attachment, in this manner, is secured against lateral movement but is permitted to move vertically, as necessary, to compensate for irregularities in the contour of the surface being paved.

The cutoff attachment of the present invention is shown in more detail in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings. The side skirt 15 includes a pair of guide channels 19 which project from the base of the side skirt 15 a substantial distance. Flanges 20 and supporting angles 21 cooperating with either guide rail 19 provide the necessary rigidity to the guide rails.

Cutoff shoe 14 includes a corresponding pair of rails 22 which are adapted to fit within or between the guide rails 19 of the side skirt 15. The bottom edge of the side skirt 15 is appropriately contoured to permit passage of the guide rails 22 and, as well, the leading edge 23 and trailing edge 24 of the eutoff shoe 14. Accordingly, the cutoff shoe, when in assembled position, as seen in FIG. 3, is free to pass beyond the side skirt 15 and in front of the screed a distance equal to the maximum length of the shoe itself.

The movement of the cutoff shoe 14 in respect to the side skirt 15, and ultimately in respect to the screed, is controlled by means of a fluid cylinder 25. One end 26 of the fluid cylinder is rotatably secured to a supporting flange 27 of the side skirt 15 in such a manner that the free end 28 of the cylinder may be raised and lowered in respect to the cutoff shoe 14 by handle 36.

In accordance with the invention, a hydraulic cylinder may be used which has a stroke less than the overall length of the shoe 14. This is accomplished by placing a plurality of ratchet teeth 29 in the guide channels 22. A cylinder yoke 30 is secured to the free end 28 of the cylinder and is adapted to fit into the ratchet teeth 29 when in lowered position as shown in FIG. 3.

When in 'use, the hydraulic cylinder 25 may be expanded or contracted, as desired, to place the cylinder yoke 30 in a given set of ratchet teeth 29. The cylinder can then be contracted or expanded, as the case may be, to readjust the position of the cutoff shoe to control the width of the mat. Whenever the full stroke of the cylinder has been reached, the free end of the cylinder can be manually raised and the yoke placed into another set of ratchet teeth to correspondingly move the cutoff shoe a further distance. In this manner, the cutoff shoe can be ratcheted in either direction a distance in excess of the stroke length of the hydraulic cylinder.

To permit the cutoff shoe to be moved through its entire length, a side arm 31 is employed. The sidearm 31 employs a corresponding and alined set of guide rails 32 and a like plurality of ratchet teeth 33. As can be seen in FIG. 3, once the edge of the cutoff shoe 14 has been reached by the cylinder yoke, the cylinder yoke may be extended to and engaged with a set of ratchet teeth on the sidearm 31 and the cutoff shoe further ratcheted inwardly along the face of the screed.

The side plate 31 is secured to the cutoff shoe 14 by means of hinges 34. Whenever the cutoff shoe is not moved inwardly along the screed a sufficient distance to require the use of the sidearm 31, or as conditions may necessitate, the sidearm 31 may be swung upwardly out of the way of any interferring obects.

The cutoff attachment 13 is designed such that it may be used on either side of the paving machine. The side skirt is symmetrical and needs no further adjustment. Like hinge parts 35 are provided on the opposite end of the cutoff shoe 14 from the hinge parts 34. The hinge parts 34 are of design such that they can be quickly released and sidearm 31 reconnected to the cutoff shoe 14 at the opposite end. When this has been done, the cutoff shoe and its associated sidearm is ready for opposite-side use. 1

Accordingly, it will be appreciated that by use of the power actuated cutoff shoe of the present invention, the paving machine need not be stopped to make readjustments in the width of the mat. Likewise, by use of the fluid cylinder, the smallest or most minute adjustments in the width of the mat may, as well, be made.

In one embodiment of the invention, the cutoff shoe was approximately inches in length which gave an approximate 28 inches in possible variation of the mat width, The cylinder used for controlling the cutoff shoe employed approximately an 8 inch stroke. It was found that the improved cutoff attachment would save as much as 2 hours per 10 hour day in shutdowns necessary for adjustments which resulted in an increased production in laying of paving by as much as 500 tons per day.

While the foregoing invention has been described in respect to a particular embodiment thereof, various modifications of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and it is to be understood that such modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention if they are within the spirit and the tenor of the accompanying claims.

We claim:

l. In paving equipment for paving a surface in which the paving material is passed under a screed and deposited as a mat on the surface being paved and in which the width of the mat is controlled by a cutoff shoe positioned in advance of the screed, the improvements in controlling and positioning the cutoff shoe to vary the width of the mat during continued operation of the equipment comprising, in combination:

a side skirt secured to one side of the paving equipment for maintaining the paving material within the limits of the screed;

a cutoff shoe;

cooperating guide means on both said side skirt and said cutoff shoe restricting said cutoffshoe to longitudinal movement in respect to the screed;

power actuated means interconnected between the side skirt and the cutoff shoe for selectively moving said cutoff shoe longitudinally of the screed to vary the width of the mat; and

means controlled by an operator to actuate the power actuated means during movement of the paving equipment.

2. The paving equipment of claim 1 in which said side skirt is secured to the side of the paving equipment by cooperating guide means permitting vertical movement of the side skirt and included cutoff shoe in respect to the contour of the surface being paved over which the cutoffshoe is passing,

3. The paving equipment of claim 1 in which said power actuated means includes a dual action fluid cylinder of stroke less than the length of the cutoff shoe and one end of which is secured to the side skirt; and ratchet means interdisposed between the opposite end of said cylinder and said cutoff shoe to permit successive strokes of the cylinder to move the cutoff shoe in either direction for the full length ofthe cutoff shoe.

4. The paving equipment of claim 3 in which said one end of the fluid cylinder is rotatably mounted to the side skirt and said opposite end is free and includes a cylinder yoke thereon; and wherein said cutoff shoe includes a plurality of ratchet teeth alined with the longitudinal axis of said cylinder and adapted to engage said cylinder yoke whereby the stroke of the cylinder may be adjusted and the cylinder yoke manually and successively engaged with given ones of said ratchet teeth, as necessary, to move the cutoff shoe through any desired distance.

5. The paving equipment of claim 4 further including a eutoff shoe sidearm rotatably secured to the end of the cutoff shoe furthest from the screed; and said sidearm further including a second plurality of ratchet teeth in alinement with the ratchet teeth of said cutoff shoe whereby the sidearm may be lowered to the level of the surface being paved to provide additional adjustment of the cutoff shoe when necessary and swung upwardly out ofthe way when required. 

